1. Field
The invention relates to dispensing apparatus for medications, such as pills and vitamins, or for other items to be either consumed or used at set intervals, and to mechanisms in general for initiating a series of operations in timed sequence.
2. State of the Art
Various devices have been developed heretofore for automatically dispensing pills at pre-established intervals in accordance with schedules prescribed by physicians and for alerting the user to various conditions of operation, see particularly U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,473,884, 4,360,125, 4,504,153, and 4,381,059. Yet, there has remained a need for more versatility and use of standard commercially available parts in machines of this type.
3. Objectives
In the making of the present invention, principal objectives were to provide a mechanically and electronically reliable machine and system that can accept and store multiple items for automatic dispensing at accurately timed intervals over an extended period of time, e.g. a week, on a programmed basis, while alerting the user to the fact that individual items have been dispensed and are awaiting pick-up, and to other pertinent information concerning the device and its operative cycles.